A vehicle may include a variety of airbags that can deploy during a vehicle impact to absorb energy and control movement of an occupant of the vehicle. The airbag may be a component of an airbag assembly including a housing supporting the airbag, and an inflator in fluid communication with the airbag for inflating the airbag from an uninflated position to an inflated position. Airbag assemblies may be supported by a steering wheel of the vehicle, an instrument panel of the vehicle, a headliner of the vehicle, etc.
The vehicle may include an impact sensing system in communication with the airbag assembly for sensing the vehicle impact and instructing the inflator to inflate the airbag when the vehicle impact is sensed. The impact sensing system may sense a direction of the impact and may selectively inflate, or not inflate, certain airbags of the vehicle or extensions of the airbag based on the type and magnitude of impact that is sensed, e.g., based on direction, magnitude, etc.
Airbags may be designed to protect an occupant based on a fixed orientation of an occupant of the vehicle. For example, an airbag housed within a vehicle steering wheel may protect an occupant of a driver's seat in a front impact collision, where the occupant, and the driver's seat, are oriented to face the steering wheel. Similarly, a side curtain airbag supported above a vehicle side door may protect the occupant of the driver's seat in a side impact collision, where the occupant, and the driver's seat, are oriented to face the steering wheel.
Effectiveness of airbags is determined with the use of crash test dummies. Crash test dummies are designed to replicate various sizes of people. For example, a Hybrid III 50th male crash dummy is designed to replicate the size of an average adult male. The dimensions of the Hybrid III 50th male have been adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) as standards to be used when evaluating motor vehicle safety.